In less than 24 hours, Donald Trump is scheduled to land in Charlevoix, Quebec, for the annual G7 Summit. And thanks to his ill-considered, self-defeating, pointlessly belligerent trade “policies,” no one is particularly excited to see him. France and Germany have said they may not sign the joint statement that typically concludes these gatherings, filling all parties with the warm glow of global cooperation. Emmanuel Macron is tweeting warning shots. (“The American President may not mind being isolated, but neither do we mind signing a 6 country agreement if need be. Because these 6 countries represent values, they represent an economic market which . . . is now a true international force,” he fired off Thursday afternoon.) Justin Trudeau has called Trump’s tariffs “laughable” and said that his “unacceptable actions are going to harm his own citizens.” Angela Merkel has vowed to take Trump to task on trade and Iran. Not helping matters is the fact that rather than use the meeting to ease tensions and engage in diplomacy that might actually benefit the U.S., the president is reportedly itching for a fight, and is already threatening to behave in the sort of manner that, if he were at a restaurant, would result in the manager approaching his table and telling him, “Sir, we’re going to need to ask you to leave.” That is, if he shows up at all.

According to a new report, Trump has privately complained to his aides about having to spend a whole two days in Canada, “believing the trip is a distraction from his upcoming Singapore summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un—the one he said Thursday he doesn’t “have to prepare very much for,” because it’s “about attitude.” The president also reportedly thinks the summit won’t be a good use of his time because he “is diametrically opposed on many key issues with his counterparts,” and, as has become glaringly evident over the past 500 days, conflict-resolution and consensus building are not exactly is forte. Plus, he hates sleeping in non-Trump branded beds, and traveling to places that don’t cater to his culinary preferences (well-done steak and ketchup). “Trump is a man who likes to be on the couch with a good cheeseburger and likes to watch TV—he’s a homebody,” said his longtime friend Roger Stone in reference to the then-candidate’s frequent departures from the campaign trail. “He likes being in his own bed, even if it means coming into Teterboro or LaGuardia after midnight.”

But there’s another reason for the reported “staff-level discussions for several days about whether Trump may pull the plug on the trip and send Vice President Pence in his stead,” as he did for a summit in Peru last April: Atomic Tangerine is a pathological narcissist who only enjoys traveling to destinations where his exquisitely delicate and wildly inflated ego will be appropriately catered to, per The Washington Post:

Furthermore, he prefers visiting places where he is feted—such as on his trips last year to Beijing, Paris and the Saudi capital—over attending summits where the attending leaders are treated as equals.

It was in France, of course, that Trump got the idea that the military ought to throw a multi-million-dollar parade in his honor. In Beijing, a welcome ceremony in the Great Hall of the People featuring an honor guard of hundreds, plus a band and children in costumes shouting “Welcome to China! [We] love you!” was so pleasing to the easily manipulated egomaniac that he told a group of businessmen, “I don’t blame China” for the trade deficit. Still, despite his insistence that the event turned into his own personal Super Sweet Sixteen, it’s unlikely Trump will ditch the summit, and pass up an opportunity to rant about how badly America has been taken advantage of or to insult our allies to their faces.

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The White House doesn’t want to talk about the White House analysis showing tariffs will hurt economic growth

A White House economic analysis of President Trump’s trade agenda has concluded that Mr. Trump’s tariffs will hurt economic growth in the United States, according to several people familiar with the research.

The findings from the White House Council of Economic Advisers have been circulated only internally and not publicly released, as is often the case with the council’s work, making the exact economic projections unknown. But the determination comes as top White House officials continue to insist publicly that Mr. Trump’s trade approach will be “massively good for the U.S. economy.”

Of course, this is the conclusion that virtually everyone outside of the West Wing has come to, but it’s not a great look as Trump bangs on his desk yelling, bring me more tariffs! Asked about the analysis, Lindsay Walters, a White House spokeswoman, told The New York Times, “We don’t comment on internal, deliberative documents.”

Of course Scott Pruitt made his secret-service detail drive around looking for fancy lotion

We are shocked—shocked!—to learn that the 24/7 security detail the E.P.A. chief demanded wasn’t just put in place for safety purposes:

While E.P.A. security agents are required to protect Pruitt at all times—while he is working and during his off hours—the two individuals said the administrator had asked members of the detail to perform tasks that go beyond their primary function. In one instance, they said, he directed agents to drive him to multiple locations in search of a particular lotion on offer at Ritz-Carlton hotels.

On other occasions, they added, he asked agents to pick up his dry cleaning without him.

Of course, we shouldn’t be too hard on Pruitt. Just yesterday, a bill that included an amendment barring him from buying pens that cost more than $50 apiece, after he purchased 12 extremely fancy pens for $1,560, passed the House Appropriations Committee. He’s obviously in a dark place.

Team Trump strikes a deal to get Chinese telecom company sanctioned in April back in business

Republican and Democratic U.S. senators introduced legislation on Thursday that would roll back an agreement President Donald Trump’s administration announced to ease sanctions on Chinese telecommunications company ZTE Corp.

The Senate measure would restore penalties on ZTE for violating export controls and bar U.S. government agencies from purchasing or leasing equipment or services from ZTE or Huawei Technologies Co Ltd [HWT.UL], another major Chinese firm.

It would also ban the U.S. government from using grants or loans to subsidize Huawei, ZTE or any subsidiaries or affiliates.

Less than two months ago, the Commerce Department banned shipments to ZTE for seven years after it emerged that the company had violated U.S. sanctions by doing business with, among others North Korea and Iran, and then lied about it. So it was slightly surprising when Donald Trump announced on Mother’s Day that he was working with Chinese President Xi Jinping to get the firm back into business . . . but hey, The Art of the Deal works on levels us mere mortals just can’t understand.